When Merlin met Arthur
by Evil.and.i.know.it
Summary: Arthur Pendragon hates going to charity events with his father, especially those involving students. But, when he goes to Avalon's summer recital, he meets a rather interesting young man. Prequel to Biter, can also be read as a one shot. Modern AU, warnings inside.


**A/N: Here is the prequel for Biter. Thank you so much for making it my most popular story yet (judging by the favorites). This part includes how they met and their first date. Hope I don't disappoint!**

**Warnings: Slash, some swearing, modern AU, no beta so please feel free to point out any mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: All mentioned characters belong to BBC.**

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Arthur Pendragon was not a happy camper. Honestly, he was glad that his dad was a rich businessman because that meant he got to have a fancy car. But it was times like this he just wished that Uther was chef or in some other profession that didn't involve smiling and going to crappy openings or charity events. And the events that Arthur hated most were ones involving students. They all tried to butter him up to get his father to fund something. They were all incredibly boring and there was no one good looking enough to hit on. He envied Morgana sometimes, not being a legitimate Pendragon sure had its perks.

Today, he was supposed to go to some lame summer recital at Avalon University, which totally sucked since Arthur studied at Camelot. Avalon was a music university where they catered to the best of the best. Since the tuition was quite high, his father had funded a scholarship program that allowed five underprivileged prodigies to join the university. The whole point of this recital was to show off their talent and express their gratitude to Uther Pendragon. Arthur groaned and buried his hands in his head. This was going to be a painful three hours. He was so immersed in his self-pity; he didn't hear his father come into the room.

"Arthur, I hope you're going to wear something more appropriate for the show," said Uther, eyeing the jeans with disdain.

Arthur shot to his feet. "Yes, father. Morgana picked something out for me, I'm sure it'll be appropriate enough. I hope."

Uther raised an eyebrow. "I do hope you realize what you're doing. Your sister can be…eccentric at times. You do remember the time when you had glitter and feathers stuck to your body, don't you?"

Arthur winced. That had not been pleasant; it took a week for all the glitter to go away.

"I'll make sure it's something good," he promised.

Uther nodded. "Good. We will leave in an hour. See that you're ready by then."

As soon as his father left, Arthur went to find Morgana. He'll be damned before he let her put glitter in his clothes again. He found her in his room, throwing clothes haphazardly on his bed. She pulled out a black shirt, looked at thoughtfully before chucking it.

"Oi, what do you think you're doing?" demanded Arthur.

"I thought you wanted my help, brother dearest. It's not my fault that you have terrible taste in clothes."

Arthur scowled. "Out. I don't need your help, I can dress myself thanks. I can go in my boxers and they won't blink. I think I can find something."

"I'm sure if you show up in your boxers they won't just blink. They'll probably run out screaming due to your hideousness. But if you're trying to pull the whole beauty and the beast thing, go right ahead," she smirked and left.

Arthur groaned at the mess his sister made. Slowly he picked up his clothes and put them in his cupboard. As he cleaned up his room, he thought about what to wear and decided on black slacks and a simple white button down shirt. He looked at his watch and cursed. He had barely thirty minutes to get ready. He quickly put on his clothes and styled his hair. Satisfied with his appearance, he ran out of the house and stood by the car, waiting for his father.

He leaned against the hood catching his breath, when his father strode out in a suit. He looked at Arthur and said, "This will do. Let's go."

Arthur let a relieved breath and got into the car. His father pulled out a newspaper and began to read, while he just stared out of the window secretly wishing he was somewhere else. He decided then and there that when he takes over the company, he's going to send Morgana for all these things. It would be payback for all the crap she had pulled when they were kids and all the crap she still pulled now that they were teenagers. As he thought about happy things like Morgana getting a taste of her own medicine, he didn't notice that they had reached their destination. He was rudely awakened from his fantasy by Uther noisily getting out of the car. He shook his head and followed his father.

Outside, Uther was welcomed by a rather old man. Later he was introduced as Professor Gaius, principal of Avalon. Arthur plastered on a fake smile and shook hands with all the pretentious professors and guests. Gaius led them into the concert hall where they presented Uther with flowers. After posing for the camera, they finally took their seats and waited for the recital to start.

First up was a girl named Freya and she played the cello. Arthur would have liked it if it wasn't all so BORING. He was trying to stay awake by sheer will because honestly, the slow music and the air conditioning weren't helping. After what seemed like forever, Freya bowed and left the stage. Arthur sighed, one down four more to go. He hardly paid any attention to the next two artists, as far as he was concerned that was his father's job. He started to daydream again but was startled by a rude screeching sound from a violin.

"What on earth was that?" he asked Gaius.

"I believe that was William. He's quite good really, but he resents the rich. It's a miracle that he's up there at all."

Uther didn't say anything, just coldly looked at the boy on stage. William returned that look and topped it off by yelling, "Fuck you, Pendragon" and stormed off the stage.

Gaius hastily got up and went to do some damage control, while Uther silently seethed in fury.

Fifteen minutes and a half-hearted apology from William later, the show continued. This time it was someone playing the piano. The guy looked barely seventeen; he was all elbows and knees. Arthur snorted. He was sure that this was going to be a fiasco as well. But boy was he wrong. As soon as his hands touched the piano, it was magic. His hands danced over the keys gracefully, like he was caressing them. This guy, Melvin or something, played like an absolute angel. He could feel himself being swept away in the beautiful music and all too soon, it came to an end. Melvin got up and bowed to a thunderous applause.

"Gaius, who was that boy? He played quite well," said his father approvingly.

"Ah, that was Merlin Emrys. He was the reason I asked you to consider funding a scholarship. His mother is a friend of mine and when I heard him play, I took him under my wing. He actually wants to thank you himself; I'll just go get him." Oblivious to his father's conversation with Gaius, Arthur wandered about looking for Melvin.

About ten minutes of wandering and innumerable handshakes later, Arthur finally found him.

"Ah Melvin, you're just the chap I've been looking for. Wonderful performance, by the way. I'm Arthur Pendragon." He flashed his million-pound smile that made girls go weak at the knees.

Melvin narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth to say something when he was rudely interrupted.

"His name is Merlin, you pretentious bastard. Did you pay any attention to the show? Or did daddy only bring you along to look pretty?" spat William.

"Will…" started Melvin, no Merlin, before he was interrupted again.

"I should have never taken the bloody scholarship. They don't give two shits about us. They're only doing this for the publicity. Isn't that right, Pendragon? Show the world you care about poor people so that they don't see what you really are."

Arthur glared at him and resisted the urge to punch him. He schooled his features into an arrogant smirk.

"Oh you are totally right. We're heartless bastards that love torturing children and killing unicorns. And you're right about the scholarship too. If you hadn't accepted it, someone talented could have had the opportunity to learn instead of some untalented country berk."

Before William could do anything, Merlin stepped up and looked Arthur in the eye.

"It might have escaped your notice, but I'm a country berk too. So take all your pretentious, fake praise and shove it up your arse. I'm thankful for the opportunity and all, but that doesn't mean you insult my friends you utter prat."

Arthur stared in shock.

"You have really blue eyes and you're Irish!"

Merlin looked at him like he was crazy and stopped himself from throttling the prat.

"Oh my god, you're thick. Or are you drunk? I've insulted you and all you can talk about is that I'm Irish."

"Oh, right. You insulted me. No one's done that before," said Arthur thoughtfully and then promptly burst into laughter. Huffing at the idiocy of it all, Merlin turned around and crashed into Uther Pendragon.

"Mr.P-Pendragon, I can explain," he stuttered. Uther just held up a hand, silencing him.

"I heard everything; you do not have to be frightened. I think that my son has had too much excitement for one day. You were wonderful, I wish you all the very best for your future. Come, Arthur. Let's go home." With a final nod to Gaius, Uther left expecting Arthur to follow him.

Everyone was looking at Arthur. Will was barely concealing his laughter and was going to say something rude when Arthur suddenly burst out, "Go out with me."

Merlin blinked. "Erm, what?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "You heard me. You, me coffee? Or would you prefer dinner and a movie?"

Merlin blinked again. "Coffee would be fine." Ignoring Will's loud 'you've got to be fucking kidding me' he asks for Arthur's number.

With a promise to pick Merlin up the next day, Arthur left grinning like a fool.

Will, though was not amused. "Are you out of your bloody mind, Merlin? You're going out with that arse?"

"Ah, but what an arse it is, Will," came Merlin's cheeky reply.

Will just shook his head in despair and punched Merlin's shoulder.

**The next day…**

To say that their date was a disaster would be a hideous understatement. Arthur was late, Merlin spilled coffee and some bigot called them fags. Which of course resulted in Arthur punching the guy and sending him to the emergency room. But the date wasn't a total disaster. When Arthur started apologizing for ruining the date Merlin just had to kiss him to make him shut up, again and again. It was the kiss that made them realize, that they were going to be dysfunctional as hell but they'll still make it work.

**And after that…**

They had plenty more successful dates after that one. They tried to fit each other into their busy schedules whenever possible. Lunch dates, dinner dates, walks in the park or just simply sitting on the couch watching bad movies, they always made time for each other.

Two months later, when Arthur showed up at Merlin's dorm room with a stricken face after a particularly bad fight with his father, Merlin held on to him and didn't once let go. They talked the entire night and skipped class to sleep in. After that day, they were closer than ever.

On Merlin's birthday, Arthur decorated his entire room with flowers and candles. When Merlin came home after class, he nearly broke his neck because he slipped on flower petals. Laughing, Arthur picked him up and carried him to his bed bridal-style.

He kissed Merlin and said, "Happy birthday, Merlin."

Merlin just smiled and kissed him back. That night, Arthur discovered that Merlin was a biter and he was never happier.

The next morning, a horrified shout would be heard across Avalon University's campus.

"YOU'RE FUCKING PENDRAGON?"

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_And in case you haven't already guessed, the last line was spoken by Will._

_Please read and review!_


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